Venkaiah Naidu: 26 interesting facts about the new Vice President

Venkaiah Naidu is the 13th Vice-president of India and is the second Vice-president from Andhra Pradesh. He was born at Chavatapalem in the Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh on July 1, 1949.

1) His father was a farmer and he grew up in an environment where he could empathise with the problems of the farmers and the people of backward classes.

2) Before joining active politics, Naidu was much of a social worker. After completing his graduation, Naidu pursued law from Andhra University in Visakhapatnam.

3) Venkaiah Naidu's entry into politics was marked by his active participation in 'Jai Andhra Movement' of 1972.

4) He was a swayamsevak in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in 1973 during his college days.

5) In 1974, he became the convener of the anti-corruption Jayaprakash Narayan Chhatra Sangharsh Samiti of Andhra Pradesh.

6) He took to streets in protest against the emergency and was imprisoned.

7) During the Emergency between 1975-77, he remained underground until his arrest.

8) He used to distribute anti-government literature in educational institutions in Andhra and Tamil Nadu.

9) Naidu rose to prominence along with S Jaipal Reddy, who was then in Janata Party, during the campaign by NT Rama Rao.

10) Naidu gained immense popularity because of his outspoken nature and great communication skills.

11) After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was formed in 1980, he became Vice president of its youth wing.

12) He was leader of the BJP Legislature Party in Andhra Pradesh, state general secretary and state unit chief.

13) Naidu displayed his leadership skills when he won the Andhra Pradesh assembly elections twice in 1978 and 1983 from Udayagiri constituency.

14) Naidu's oratory skills elevated him to different positions as a leader in the BJP and made him its national president in 2002.

15) He succeeded Jana Krishnamurthy as the National President of the Bharatiya Janata Party. On 28 January 2004, he was elected unopposed for a full 3-year term.

16) Naidu was elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka in 1998. He was re-elected twice in 2004 and 2010 from Karnataka.

17) He served as the party spokesperson from 1996 to 2000.

18) His communication skills and ability to maintain network with top political leaders of the party helped him achieving the post of president of the BJP and finally to the Union cabinet.

19) Naidu was Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Information and Broadcasting in the Narendra Modi Government before he was nominated for the post of Vice President.

20) It was his second term as a Union Cabinet Minister.

21) After the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) victory in the 1999 general elections, he became the Union Cabinet Minister for Rural development in the government headed by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

22) He was known for aggressively pushing for reforms in Rural development and for the many schemes introduced during this period such as the 'Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana¿.

23) He was also instrumental in helping BJP form alliance with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), a strong regional party.

24) During the discussions held about the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in Rajya Sabha, Naidu fought for the Seemandhra people.

25) M Venkaiah Naidu raised Special Status to Andhra Pradesh issue in Rajya Sabha and demanded special category state status to AP.

26) To serve the poor and downtrodden of his hometown Nellore, Naidu initiated a social service organisation called 'Swarna Bharath Trust'. The trust provides education to the needy children. It also imparts employment training to women and the youth.

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